The University of Hawai'i women's water polo team will play in San Diego State University's Aztec Invitational from Mar. 21-22. The team will then take on No. 10 Loyola Marymount on Mar. 23 at the Burns Center.

 

On the opening day of the invitational, UH will play Brown University followed by No. 18 Indiana. The following day, the team faces Pacific and No. 12 Hartwick College.

           

UH (9-7, 1-4 MPSF) will take a break from Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches this week but will still look for more season victories in preparation for No. 6 California on Mar. 28. 

Upcoming Matches (All matches PST)

Aztec Invitational (San Diego, Calif.)

Mar.21             vs. Brown                     8:00 a.m.

                        vs. Indiana                    11:45 a.m.

Mar.22             vs. Pacific                     11:45 a.m.

                        vs. Hartwick                 4:45 p.m.

Mar. 23            at Loyola Marymount   3:00 p.m.

Mason Top-Ranked

Senior Kelly Mason ranks fourth in the MPSF in goal-scoring this week with a total of 36 goals, averaging 2.57 goals per match. Both junior Leonie Van Der Molen and junior Dagmar Genee were ranked in the MPSF's top 25 goal-scorers. Van Der Molen was ranked 14th with an average of 1.71 goals per match while newcomer Genee fell at the 21st spot with a goals per match average of 1.36.

Wahine Capture First MPSF Win

UH captured its first MPSF victory of the season against Arizona State on Mar. 11 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex during the Rainbow Wahine's home-opener. UH came out strong gaining a 4-1 lead on Arizona State (9-8, 0-3 MPSF) in the first quarter and kept the Sun Devils at bay for a 5-2 halftime lead. The Rainbow Wahine held Arizona State to one goal at third period. Although the Sun Devils were able to put up two more goals in the final period of the match, UH answered with three more goals, defeating ASU, 11-5. Leading the Rainbow Wahine were senior Kelly Mason and freshman Carmen Eggens, with three goals each, while Lynlee Smith scored two of the Sun Devil's five goals. UH, who was recently ranked last in the MPSF now stands at fifth under California, who the team will facing off against next in conference play.

Trojans Rally Past UH

The Rainbow Wahine faced second-ranked USC on their second home game of the season on Mar. 17. The Trojans (15-1, 4-0 MPSF) rallied in the first quarter for a 4-3 lead on UH, but the Rainbow Wahine were able to come back in the second, keeping USC scoreless and edging them out 5-4 by halftime. In the third period however, USC held UH to one goal and managed to tie the score, 6-6 with four seconds left in the quarter. In the final period of the match, both teams went back-and-forth without scoring, before USC scored the game-winner with 1:58 left on the clock. UH made several attempts at tying the match, but fell short to Trojans, 7-6. Junior Leonie Van Der Molen and sophomore Carmen Eggens scored all of UH's goals with three each.

Rainbow Wahine Leaders

Kelly Mason has been consistently leading the Rainbow Wahine in goal-scoring this season but Dagmar Genee and Leonie Van Der Molen have lead UH in other ways as well as scoring. In addition to her 2.44 goals per match average, Mason also leads the team with a total of 20 steals. Genee carries the team in assists and totals 20 so far this season and leading the Rainbow Wahine with kickouts drawn, is Van Der Molen with a total of 31 this season.

Hawai'i Holds at No. 4

According to the Mar. 18 Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll, Hawai'i continues to remain at No. 4. UH moved from being at No. 3 a month ago on the Feb. 18 polls, the team's highest rank in school history, back down to No. 4 under UCLA. Since UH fell short several games in their last road trip and one to USC at home, the Rainbow Wahine are now 9-7 overall and 1-3 in the MPSF. Stanford (15-1, 3-0 MPSF) remains at the No. 1 while USC (14-1, 4-0 MPSF) also remains at No. 2.